The waters of Delaware have over 60 species of sharks swimming across the Atlantic Ocean, Delaware Bay, and Inland Bays, mostly during summer. However, only five of them are abundantly found, which include the smooth dogfish, spiny dogfish, sand tiger shark, sandbar shark, and the shortfin mako shark.
The great white dreaded for its aggression isn’t a common visitor here, sighted rarely. In 2021 it was spotted twice, in May and June, by the OCEARCH, a shark tracking app. The one tracked in May, Martha was a juvenile great white with a height and weight of 7 feet and 200 pounds, respectively. In June, a bigger shark, Freya, was spotted along Delaware Bay, weighing as much as 900 pounds with a height of 11 feet. She didn’t stay in the Delaware waters for long and headed towards the southeastern part of Cape May, New Jersey, the following day.
List of the Different Types of Sharks in Delaware
| Species | Maximum Size | Aggressiveness |
| Sandbar Shark | 5.5-8.5 feet | Not aggressive |
| Spiny Dogfish | 2.5-3.5 feet | Not aggressive (due to their small size) |
| Smooth Dogfish | 4-5 feet | Not aggressive (due to their blunt teeth) |
| Sand Tiger Shark | 7-10 feet | Not aggressive (due to their small mouths) |
| Shortfin Mako Shark | 6.5-9.5 feet | Highly aggressive |
| Smooth Hammerhead Shark | 8-12 feet | Not aggressive (but potentially dangerous) |
| Dusky Shark | 9 -12 feet | Not aggressive (until provoked) |
| Thresher Shark | 10-18 feet | Not aggressive |
| Great White Shark | 11-16 feet | Highly aggressive |
